Threatening Letters to President Obama and NYC Mayor Contain Poison

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's offices in Washington, DC, and Manhattan received two ricin-tainted letters over the weekend, authorities confirmed on Wednesday. "The writer, in the letters, threatened Mayor Bloomberg, with references to the debate on gun laws," said New York Police Department spokesperson Paul Browne. The author continued to explain that he would never give up his weapons to the government. Today, officials intercepted a similar letter addressed to President Obama. News sources are now reporting that this message has tested positive for ricin.

According to reports, all three letters originated in Shreveport, LA. The FBI, Joint Terrorism Task Force and the city of Shreveport are working together to find out who sent the poisoned letters, said Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover in a statement.

A "pink-orange, oily substance" in the New York City–bound letter caused emergency personnel to show signs of ricin exposure. A person can die from inhaling or consuming just 1 mg of the poisonous material, which can lead to respiratory and circulatory system failure.

Bloomberg, known for making a strong push for more gun control, responded swiftly to the incident saying he doesn't feel deterred. "There are 12,000 people [who] are going to be killed this year with guns and 19,000 are going to commit suicide by guns, and we are not going to walk away from those efforts," he said.